


A Girl Like Her

by Merfilly



Category: Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-16 19:07:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21276209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: Ace meets a blonde. Not just any blonde...





	A Girl Like Her

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HotaruMuraki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotaruMuraki/gifts).

> AU that ignores the idea Rose went back to Pete's World, and Ten Two while supposing Ace came back to Earth to live on her own choice.

It wasn't every day that Ace noticed someone like her. Not for looking, mind you, as Ace had learned to appreciate people in all their wondrous ways of existing.

No, this one, this blonde with a bright smile and open nature was drawing her attention over and again, as Ace made her way along the street. She was just killing time, not really aiming for anything at all, and… so was the blonde. The blonde looked at the shops, watched the people, and just moved around with that aimless manner that marked a casual shopper.

Until Ace, on the opposite side of the road, saw the blonde step around a street display of mannequins, she'd been willing to just put it down to how generously cheerful the blonde was. That oh-so intent and quick avoidance of the mannequins suggested that this was one of the survivors of the Auton invasion not that long ago, but Ace didn't think that was all to it.

Wanting to find out more, Ace stepped into the shop at hand, figuring no one truly turned aside chocolates, unless allergic, and acquired a small tin of the fancy ones. She came back out, scanning discreetly, to find the blonde. She had to know, had to learn what she could about this woman that dodged the mannequins but had given them a look of defiance in passing.

She saw she needed to hurry as the blonde was going around a corner and picked up her pace. She made it to the corner, turned —

— and the blonde was standing right there, face gone serious as she took in Ace, head to toe.

"Why are you following me?"

Ace gave her best disarming smile, and held up the tin of chocolates. "To share these with someone that knows mannequins are dangerous."

The blonde had not expected that answer, and then her eyes flicked off a patch, and something shifted. "Were you there the night they attacked, or… something else?" she asked.

Ace wondered which patch, and then remembered the one for that little diner that had a founded date sometime in the next century. Normal people ignored it as a joke, but someone who had known the Professor might take it seriously.

"Me? No, just heard stories about them," Ace said. "I was visiting a friend in Ealing but I heard about it there."

"Thought it all got covered up," the blonde said with a sniff. "Sorry. I'm Rose Tyler." She held a hand out to shake, and Ace took it.

"Ace McShane. And they can cover it up if they like, but my friend has sources." Ace shook her hand then held the tin out again. "Serious, take them. Only thing I ask back is… tell me about _him_? The one you met."

Rose's quick intake of breath said so much. "C'mon. My place is close, and you don't just talk about him. You rant, you rave, you laugh, you cry… and my eyeliner can't take much of that," Rose told her.

"I understand all of that," Ace said, remembering the mercurial relationship she had had with the Professor.

* * *

Rose wasn't certain why she had been so willing to bring Ace home, but she remembered her Doctor mentioning the diner on that patch. She saw something in Ace's eyes that told of adventures to share, of stories about a man they both cared about. She wondered what Ace's had been like, and when she had known him, relative to her own pair of them.

So she brought Ace in and let her get cozy on the sofa with a drink, the chocolates open for them both to share, and tried to find the right opening.

"I'm from Perivale," Ace said. "But I met the Professor… the Doctor to most, but I called him that… in the future. I'd been swept up in a time storm, got taken there. The girl he traveled with then, she decided to leave, and I thought it might mean a bit of adventure if I went, maybe even a way home."

"I told him no at first," Rose answered to that. "We'd just had a horrible time with those killer mannequins, and my then-boyfriend was a wreck. He left… but before we could really get moving, he was back and… it felt right, to just go.

"Made one hell of a mess for us later," Rose added. "Quick trip had me away long enough my mum declared me missing."

Ace chuckled at that. "I got lucky on that bit; was already on the outs with what family I had when I vanished. Took me a bit to get used to here-and-now when I came back, though. Have you met any of the others? They can be a big help, especially Ms. Smith," Ace told her.

"Others? And you mean Sarah Jane Smith? I did meet her. Alien invasion at a school."

"That's the one," Ace said, smiling brightly. "She hasn't told me about that one! Well, she finds so much to deal with. Better than the creeps over in Cardiff."

Rose laughed. "I don't like how they handle things either," she admitted. "Tell me about your… Professor?"

"Will you tell me about the one you traveled with in turn?" Ace asked.

"Both of them," Rose promised.

"Both? Wow. Talk about trouble then!"

* * *

It was late, and both of them had, in fact, laughed and cried, ranted and raved over the way their Doctors had behaved. The sharing of stories, of knowing they had a friend in common, all of that had made for a solid friendship blooming over the tin of chocolate.

"You'll come round then, next Wednesday?" Ace asked, getting ready to leave. "The others, they'd love to meet you, or, meet you again, in Ms. Smith's case."

Rose nodded, smiling at the idea of seeing Sarah Jane again. She wondered at the formality there… and then decided she'd see for herself.

"Wouldn't miss it for anything other than the TARDIS," Rose said.

"I think all of us get that, even though, except for you and Ms. Smith, we all left on our own terms," Ace said. "And there are days, Rose… days I wish I hadn't."

Rose nodded, before taking both of her hands to squeeze. "When I saw him again, after I got back, I thought all I wanted was to go with him again, but… it was time to let go. We all learn that, little by little maybe?"

Ace returned the squeeze. "Until Wednesday," she said, with more feeling than a single day might have warranted.

"Until then," and Rose had that same level. It was something in knowing they'd shared _his_ life that made the connection real in so short a time.


End file.
